The Spatial Perspective Geography is the "WHY of WHERE," National Geographic Society Essential Question: How does the way geographers look at the world differ from that of other sciontists? Greverapty shires content with many other sconces, Geographers ae interested in the pheaomena studied by climatologists, botanists, economists, sociologists, and demographers, for example. These scientists study the ‘weather, plants, business, human society, and the characteristics of populations, In this sense, geography is a science of synthesis, a field that integrates the learning of many others. What distinguishes geography from all other fields is that it focuses on a particular perspective, ot way of looking at things. That distinctive perspective is spatial. Acspatial approach considers, the arrangement-of the phenomena being [Link]. the. surface»[Link] earth. Important considerations of this approach are things such as location, distance, direction, orientation, pattern, and interconnection. A spatial approach also looks at elements such as the movements of people and things, changes in places over time, and even human Perceptions of space and place. Geographers ask questions about spatial distributions such as these: + Why are things where they are? + How did things become distributed as they are? *+ What is changing the pattem of distribution? * What are the implications of the spatial distribution for people? Geography as a Field of Study Geography has been called the “mother of all sciences.” This is partly because it is one of the oldest fields of study. In addition, it is because geographers are interested in the content of so many other sciences. The word geography comes from Greek and combines the idea of studying, or writing about Cgraphy), with the idea of the earth (geo-). So the word geography means “earth writing.” - Subfields of Geography Geography is commonly divided into two major branches: + Physical geography is the study of spatial characteristics of various elements of the physical environment, Physical geographers, like physical scientists, study topics such as weather and climate, ecosystems and biomes, and volcanism and erosion. + Human geography is the study of the spatial characteristics of humans and human activities. ‘Human geographers share a spatial approach with physical geographers and often rely on information from physical geography and other physical sciences. The concem of human geographers, however, is the human population and the spatial characteristics associated with people. Human geographers specialize in subfields. These subfields include geographers who study the following: *+ population (health, births, migrations, etc.) * culture (language, religion, popular music, ete.) + economics (agriculture, level of development, wealth distribution, ete.) + urban areas (cities, suburbs, challenges from growth, etc.) * politics (local government, nations, distribution of power, etc.) The degree of specialization in human geography reflects the wide interests of geographers: there is medical geography, environmental geography, social geography, and even the geography of sports. However, all subfields share a spatial perspective and their interest in human populations. Since geography studies spatial information, maps are one of the most important tools for geographers. Cartography, the art and science of mapmaking, is closely associated with geography. Many geographers are also cartographers and vice versa. Geospatial technologies, such as satellite imagery and remotely sensed data, geographic information systems (GIS), and global positioning systems (GPS) can require technical skill on the part of their scientists. Geographers rely on cartographers to help them organize spatial information, The Early History of Geography Foras long as humans have been able to write, they have written “geographies” in their descriptions of place and observations of phenomena on earth. The first ‘maps were probably simply scratched in the soil with sticks by early humans. In the river valleys of the Huang He in China, the ‘Tigris-Euphrates valley in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), and Egypt, ancient people studied geography and made maps. The Greeks and Romans were the first people in westem Eurasia to formalize a study of geography: * Homer's iliad and Odyssey are geographic in nature and point to Greek interest in descriptions of the world.+ Aristotle was a keen observer of the earth and its features and how they influence human behavior. + Using geometry, Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of Earth from Alexandria i t during the 3rd century B.C.E., and he was very nearly correct. He coined the term geography. *+ Ptolemy, a Greck who lived about 500 years after Eratosthenes, wrote a summary of Greek knowledge about geography, including the location and size of continents, that dominated European thought for 1,000 years. Strabo wrote descriptions of various areas of the Roman Empire and proposed theories about how geography influenced history. During the European Middle Ages (about 500 C.E. to 1450C.E. ), Europeans rarely ventured outside their region. But the Muslim culture that flourished in Middle East and North Africa built strong trading ties with Africa and East Asia. As people traveled, they collected information about new places, created maps, and wrote books about geography. Scholars such as Muhammad al-Idrisi (12th century) and Ibn Battuta (14th century) advanced the study of geography. The Modern History of Geography ‘Starting with the historic voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492, Europeans launched a new era in exploration, description, and mapping. One important ‘geographer of the early modern period was a Dutch scholar, Gerardus Mercator, He created a world map that was very useful for sailors and is still widely used today. In the late 18th century, a German, Alexander von Humboldt, traveled extensively through South America. His study of the continent’s wealth in plants and his detailed, accurate maps combined to spur European interest in the Americas. But most importantly, Humbolat saw the world as a connected whole, in which all types of knowledge contributed to each other. It is this approach that has inspired geographers ever since. ~ In the early 19th century, European geographers est societies, marking the birth of the formal academic discipline of geography. Early efforts remained focused on the great themes of the discipline that had emerged up to that point: exploring, mapping, gathering data about physical and human geography, and seeking to analyze and understand the diversity of the world’s regions. In the past century, geographers such as Garl=Sauer (1889-1975) expanded the focus of geography beyond physical traits of the earth to include human activity. Since then, geography has become increasingly diverse and specialized. Geographers study the spatial distribution of nearly everything to explain what people eat to why they migrate to how they vote. ished geographical Concepts Underlying the Geographic Perspective Historians look through the lens of time to understand the past. $i geographers look through the lens of space to understand place. ly, Location Locations may be absolute or relative. Absolute location is the precise spot where something is accordi em is the global grid of lines known as latitude and longitude. Latitude is the distance north or south of the equator, an imaginary line that circles the exactly halfway between the North and South Poles. The equator is designated a 0" and the poles as 90° north and 90° south Longitude is the distance east or west of the prime meridian, an imaginary line that runs from pole to pole through Greenwich, England. It is designated as 0°. On the opposite side of the globe from the prime meridian is 180° longitude. The International Date Line roughly follows this line but makes deviations to accommodate international boundaries. Thus, on this system, the absolute location of Mexico City is 19° north latitude and 99° west longitude. THE GLOBAL GRIDRetutive tention is a description of where something isin relation o other things. To describe Salt Lake City, Utah, as being “just south of the Great Salt Lake and just west of the Rocky Mountains, on Interstate 15 about halfway between Las Vegas, Nevada, and Butte, Montana,” is one way (of many) to describe its relative location. Relative location is often described in terms of connectivity, how well two locations are tied together by roads or other links, and accessibility, how quickly and easily people in one location can interact, with people in another location, THE RELATIVE LOCATION OF SALT LAKE CITY S oy pa SD Relative locations can change over time and as accessibility changes. For example, the many ghost towns (abandoned settlem: United States once had relative locations near water source: along trade routes (which changed), or near mines (which ‘Their good relative locations lost the advantages—access to resources or trade—that they once had, However, their absolute locations, as described by the global grid of latitude and longitude, remain the same. Place Place refers to the specific human and physical characteristics of a location, A group of places in the same area that share a characteristic form a region. ‘Two ways to refer to place are its site and situation. Site can be described as the characteristics at the immediate location—for example, the soil type, climate, labor force, and human structures. In contrast, situation refers to the location of a place relative to its surroundings and other places. The situation of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is roughly in the center of the Arabian Peninsula; the situation of the Arabian Peninsula is between the continents of Africa and Asia, When the interstate highway system was created in the United States in the 1950s, the situation of many small towns changed dramatically. Towns along old railroad lines became less important as centers of trade while towns along the new interstate suddenly became more important. Related to the concept of place is a sense of place. Humans tend to perceive the characteristics of places in different ways based on their personal beliefs. For example, the characteristics of Rome, Italy, might be described differently by a local resident than by an outsider or by a Catholic than by a Hindu. If a place inspires no strong emotional ties in people, it has placelessness. Finally, locations can also be designated using toponyms, or place names. ‘Some toponyms provide insights into the physical geography, the history, or the culture of the location. The entire coast of Florida is dotted with communities with “beach” in the name—Femandina Beach, Miami Beach, Pensacola Beach—all of which are on beaches. Salt Lake City is named for a lake with unusually salty water. Iowa is named for a Native American tribe. Pikes Peak is named for an explorer, Zebulon Pike. Sometimes toponyms get confusing. i is greener than Greenland. And some ‘A consideration of distance is an important part of the geographic perspective and spatial approach. Distance is a measurement of how faror how near things are ‘ms of geography and is given in a type of measurement, kilometers. It may be straight-line distance (“as the travel distance using a route that turns and twists. Milwaukee to Kalamazoo is 130 miles by air but 250 miles by car because the normal route ‘goes around the southern tip of Lake Michigan. Distance and Time Distance can be measured in terms of time: one place might be “a two-hour drive” from another place. Time-space compression is the shrinking “time distance” between locations because of improved methods of transportation and communication, New York City and London are separated by an ocean, but the development of air travel greatly reduced travel time between them. As result, they feel much closer today than they did in the 19th century. ‘One result of time-space compression is that global forces are influencing culture everywhere and reducing local diversity more than ever before. In the 19th century, the mountainous regions of southeastern Europe were famous for the local variations in their music. Today, because of radio, the Internet, and other changes, people in southeastern Europe listen to the same music as ‘evervone else in the world.Distance and Connection The increasing connection between places is reflected in the growth of spatial interaction, Spatial interaction refers to the contact, movement, and flow of things between locations. Connections might be physical, such as through roads. Or they can be through information, such as through radios or Internet service. Places with more connections will have jecay. A clear illustration of this ‘concept is the weakening of a radio signal as it travels across space away from a radio tower. Friction of distance causes the decay, or weakening, of the Natural characteristics like waves, earthquakes, and storm systems exhibit the distance-decay function. Human characteristics also exhibit distance-decay, although the key issue is more accurately described as connectedness than distance. When a new pet store opens, its influence is strongest in the area closest to the store but only among the pet owners who have a connection to the store. Improvements in transportation, communication, and infrastructure have reduced the friction of distance between places ‘Strongth of interaction Concepts such as accessibility and remoteness are changing, The world is more spatially connected than ever before in history. The Internet can be used to illustrate several of these concepts. It allows a person living in El Paso, Texas, to shop at a store in New (via its website) and receive a product shipped from a warehouse in Jeorgia. Distance-decay is less influential thar Density and Distribution Density is the number of something in a specifically defined area. Population density is the number of people per square mile, Densities are often compared to one another as “higher” or “lower.” The population density in a ten-acre city block of tall apartment ikely higher than the pop a ten-acre block filled w ly homes. A simple for an area can be calculated by counting the people and di Besides describing density using mumbers, density can be described in psychological terms. In a full elevator, one person might feel that the density is fine. Another might feel it is uncomfortably dense. Geographers are also interested in distribution, the way a phenomenon is spread out over an area. Some areas might have a cluster or concentration of sparse in other areas. For example, two city blocks with the same density might have very different distributions. In one, people might be spread evenly throughout the block. The other might consist of a large building where everyone lives and a large park where no one lives. Geographers look for patterns in the ion of phenomena actoss space that give clues about causes or effects of the distribution. Common pattems include the fo + Linear phenomena are arranged in a straight line, such as the distribution of towns along a railroad line + Circular phenomena are equally spaced from a central point, forming such as the distribution of the homes of people who shop at a particular store. *+ Geometric phenomena are in a regular arrangement, such as the squares formed by roads in the Midwest. + Random phenomena appear to have no order to their position, such as the ution of pet owners in a city. Matching patterns of distribution is called spatial association and indicates that two (or more) phenomena may be related, or associated with one another, For example, the distribution of malaria matches the distribution of the mosquito that carries it, However, just because two distributions have a si does not mean one is necessarily the cause of the other. The distri bieycle shops in a large city might be similar to the distribution of athl stores—but one probably does not cause the other. They both might reflect the distribution of active people. Human-Environment Interaction The dual relationship between humans and the natural world are at the heart of human geography. The connection and exchange between them is referred to as human-environment interaction. Geographers who focus on how ‘humans influence the physical world often specialize in studying sustainability, pollution, and environmental issues. The study of how humans adapt to the environment is known as cultural ecology. The belief that landforms and climate are the most powerful forces shaping human behavior and societal development is called environmental some people used sm to argue that people in some climates were superior In reaction came the view known as possibilism, a view that acknowledges limits on the effects of the natural environment and focuses more on the role that human culture plays. Different cultures may respond to the same natural diverse ways, depending on their beliefs, goals, and availableLandscape Analysis The word landscape comes from older Germanic words that refer to the landscape of Tuscany.” The task of defining and describing landscapes is called landscape analysis. Observation and Interpretation ‘The fitst part of landscape analysis keen observers of phenomena and field observation is used to refer to ing a location, place, or region and recording, firsthand, information there. Geographers can often be found taking notes, sketching maps, counting and measuring things, and interviewing people as they walk through an area that they are interested in studying. For most of the history of geography, this was the only way to gather data about places. All of the information that can be tied to specific locations is called spatial data. “Modern technology has increased the ways in which geographers can obtain spatial data. Remotely sensed information from satellites that orbit the earth above the atmosphere and aerial photography (professional images captured from planes within the atmosphere) are important sources of observed data available today. Ground-level photography has replaced sketching as a tool for capturing information about landscapes. Sound recordings and the al to get chemical analyses of air, water, and soil have also changed the eographers observe a landscape. Once data has been gathered, it must be interpreted. Geographers depend on their skills of synthesizing’ and integrating, or putting together, all of the collected information to better understand the place, area, or landscape being studied. A common example clearly observable today is the changes that occur in the landscapes of rural and urban areas over time. A geographer may be interested in understanding what changes are likely to occur as people move into or out of an area: + Who are the people migrating into this area? Wh *+ What are the cultures of these groups of people? + What effects will the changes have on the local economy? + What are the causes of people moving? areful observation. Geographers are y caving? + What types of human-environment interaction are occurring? The Built Environment When we use the word environment, we usually think of nature and natural things. Plants, the air, water, and animals are all part of the natural environment. Human geographers often refer to the built environment, by which they mean the physical artifacts that humans have created and that form part of the landscape. Buildings, roads, signs, and fences are examples of the built environment. The architectural style of bu ings varies from place to place. Think of typical homes and buildings in Cl and then think of homes and buildings in Germany. These differences occur because people with different cultures living in different physical landscapes construct buildings, roads, and other elements to create a unique b ‘ironment. Anything built by humans is part of the cultural landscape. Four-Level Analysis matic way to study geographic phenomena is to use Four-Level is. This method is summarized in the chart below. Key Questions + What? 1. Comprehension + Scale? 2. Identification + Are phenomena connected? + Why is somet jow did something get where 8. Explanation a pattern is? 4, Prediction Explain why a p + Sowhat? + What i? + What are tho effects? GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES: THINKING ABOUT DISTANCE Geographers use the concept of distance to study the spatial distribution ‘of phenomena. The perception of distance reflects context. Neighboring families i (own in lowa might live $0 feet apart. To a family i Manhattan, 50 feet might seem like a long ing on a ranch in Wyoming, miles from their nearest neighbor, 50 feet might feel uncomfortably close. ‘Time and Distance In addition, what people consider a long distance changes over time. In the mid-1800: e ceremonies for emigrantsTHINK AS A GEOGRAPHER: GROUPING DATA How people group information can emphasize certain patterns in the data, In turn, this can influence how readers interpret it. Imagine you are creating a map based on the data in the table. on intooo"” | Eotststmaty | Newyork | saszace | [Link] Chicago | sc0asrs| oreo Priladeipnia | 1200607 | _sserasa) varazas| sors Sttous | 575200] atsa5 | —os0se0| om Boston seosse | oorser | roe2e6 | vos Baltimore | _soaes7| _cansaa] ateaoe| vam Cievetand | sei7ea| senor | sesoa| om Burfalo sess | _asaori| susie} 27% san onze | eoaaie| se22004] warm Cincinnati | cesoce| _20nsso| oraeo| am 1. If you use large dots to show cities of three million or more people {in 1900 and small dots for the other cities, what impression would | the map give readers about the relative size of cities? If you use large dots to show cities of 600,000 or more people in. 1900 and small dots for the other cities, what impression would the ‘map give readers about the rélative size of cities? » . If you use an upward-pointing arrowhead for cities that increased in population and a downward-pointing arrowhead for cities that decreased in population, what would you be emphasizing? = If you use large, medium, and small dots, into what three classes ‘would you divide the cities based on their population in 2015? a If you divided the cities into three categories by percentage of change, What classes would you use? Explain. 9 Patterns and Processes 10 perhaps the most ugh they may be as to analyze the worl Gaeoeraphors emphasize spatial patterns, general arrangements of things being studied, and the proces them. Learning to recognize and use geographical skill in understanding the discipline. Maps ‘Maps are the most important tool of a geographer. No tool communicates spatial information more effectively than a map. They are essential in highlighting and analyzing patterns. Scale Nearly every map is a smaller version of a larger portion of the earth’s surface. In other words, a map is a reduction of the actual land area it represents. Scale between the size of things in the real world and the size of those same things on the map. A map has three types of scale: cartographic scale, geographic scale, and the scale of the data represented on the map. Cartographic scale refers to the way the map communicates the ratio ofits of what it represents: for example, “one inch equals ten miles.” In this case, two and a half inches on the map would be 25 miles on the surface of the earth, + A ratio: for example, 1/200,000 or 1:200,000. This means that 1 un ‘measurement on the map is equal to 200,000 of the same unit in re For example, 1 inch (or centimeter or 200.000 inches (or centimeters or mi imeter) on the map represents eters) an the oramnd+ A line: for example, the map may show a line and indicate that its distance on the map represents ten miles in reality. This is sometimes called a linear, or graphic, scale. Geographic scale, sometimes called relative:seale, refers to the amount of territory that the map represents. For example, global scale means a map of the entire planet, and it is used to show data that covers the entire world. In contrast, local scale means a map of a city. It might be used to show finer details, such as school attendance boundaries. Geographers often zoom in and out of maps that use different scales in order to see the pattems that exist at each scale. In addition, the reasons patterns exist can often be explained differently depending on the scale of analysis. A rise in unemployment might be shaped by global forces at a global scale or by local forces at a local scale, The seale of the data differs from cartographic or geographic scale. Compare the maps showing the population density of Australia. The scale of both maps is the same, but the scale of the data differs. One map shows the scale of data at the country level; the other, at the state and territory level. One ‘map shows Australia as moderately populated throughout. The other shows that the country consists of large, sparsely populated areas and a few small, densely populated areas. POPULATION DENSITY OF AUSTRALIA: COUNTRY LEVEL POPULATION DENSITY OF AUSTRALIA: STATE AND TERRITORY LEVEL Reference Maps There are two broad categories of maps: reference maps and thematic maps. Reference maps are aptly named because they are designed for people to refer to for general information about places: : s show and label human-created boundaries and ch as countries, states, cities, and capitals. show and label natural features, such as mountains, + Road maps show and label highways, streets, and alleys. + Plat maps show and label property lines and details of land ownership. * Locator maps are illustrations used in books and advertisements to show specific locations mentioned in the text, MEXICO Thematic Maps ‘Thematic maps show spatial aspects of information or of a phenomenon. Following are descriptions of four common types of thematic maps. Choropleth maps use various colors, shades of one color, or patterns to show the location and distribution of spatial data. They often show rates or other quantitative data in defined areas, such as the percentage of people in a country who speak English. The maps showing the population density of Australia are choropleth maps. As they demonstrated, the scale of data influences how the map looks.Dot distribution maps are used to show the specific location and distribution of something across the territory of the map. Each dot represents a specified quantity. One dot might stand for one school building—or for ofpeople who own dogs. While these maps are known as dot distri aps, any kind of symbol—a triangle, the outline of a house, a cow—can be used instead of dots. Graduated symbol maps use symbols of different sizes to indicate different amounts of something. Larger sizes indicate more of something, and smaller sizes indicate less. These maps make it easy to see where the largest and smallest of some phenomena are by simply comparing the symbols to each other. The map key is used to determine the exact amount. The symbols themselves are arranged on the map centered over the location represented by the data, so they may overlap. Graduated symbol maps are also called proportional symbol maps. Isoline maps, also called isometric maps, use lines that connect points of equal value to depict variations in the data across space. Where lines are close together, whatever ‘the map depicts is changing rapidly; where the lines are farther apart, the phenomenon is relatively the same, The most common type of isoline maps are topographic maps, which are popular among hikers, Points of equal elevation are connected on these maps, creating contours that depict surface features. Other ‘examples of isoline maps are weather maps showing changes in barometric pressure, temperature, or precipitation across space. Map Patterns Cchoropieth Graduated Symbol Dot Dstbution Isotne Cartograms In a cartogram, the sizes of countries (or states, counties, or another areal unit) are shown according to some specific statistic. In the example on the next age, the cartogram of world popul roughly the same size because they have similar populations (about 35 million People), even though Canada is more than 20 times larger in area. Any variable for which there are statistics can be substituted for the size of the country and ‘mapped in the same way. Cartograms are useful because they allow for dat be compared, much like a graph, and distance and distribution are also vi like on a traditional map. : Projections Because the earth is a sphere and maps are flat, all maps distort some aspect of reality. The process of showing a curved surface on a flat surfac using a map projection, Cartographers decide whether they want area, shape, distance, or direction on their map accurately, knowing that other ann err a Purpose _| Strengths Distortion Projection + Distance betwe Mercator Navigation right angles * Sizes of land masses Peters are accurate Conic + Lines of longitude Robinson General Use + Oval shape appears more like a globeConic Projection Robinson Projection Models in Geography Geographers, similar to biolog complex reality, 's, meteorologists, and others deali models have been developed for agricultural land use (the von Thiinen model, Chapter 14), industrial location (least cost theory, Chapter 15), the distribution of cities (cen ice theory, Chapter 18), and the structure of urban areas (Chapter 19). * Nonspatial models illustrate theories and concepts using words, graphs, or tables. They often depict changes over time rather than across space. Examples ate the demographic transition model (Chapter 4) o Rostow’s modernization model (Chapter 17). Wallerstein’s world-systems theory combines elements of ti it Pearsons tay ‘both spatial and nonspatial Formulas and Graphs Geographers use mathematic formulas to help them understand how the world works. These formulas function much like models. Some formulas, such as those that determine crude birth and death rates, doubling times for ion densities, are mathematical calculations that are even models (the:demographic transition model, Chapter 4). Use of Models ‘One of the most famous geographic models is von Thiinen’s model of land use. It was developed by a German farmer and economi von Thiinen, in the first half of the 1800s. The chart below shows how von Thiinen’s Generalization | Von Thinen studied how farmers decided to use their land, from Reality | * }0uld they grow vegetables or raise cattle or 20ple did, he developed a Simplification Reality Models are often mathematical and people use them to make predictions. When reality varies from a prediction, geographers rethink the model. They ask: Why are things the way they are here and now? Why does this real situation differ from the situation that the model was based on? Models are never “wrong” or “right,” but they can be more or less useful in understanding the world,Regionalization and Regions Process geographers use to divide and categorize space al units. This is much like how a writer divides a book into chapters and then names (or classifies) them. Types of Regions Geographers classify regions into one of three basic types: formal, functional, or perceptual. Formal regions, sometimes called uniform regions or homogeneous regions, are united by one or more traits: * physical, such as the Sahara, a vast desert in northern Africa * cultural, such as southwestern Nigeria, an area where most people speak ‘Yoruba * economic, such as the Gold Coast of Africa (Ghana), which exports gold Functional regions are organized around a focal point and are defined by an activity that occurs across the region. These regions are often united by networks of communication and transportation that are centered on a node, For this reason, they are also known as nodal regions: + Pizza delivery areas are functional regions; the pizza shop is the node. + Accouniry is a functional region; the capital city is the political node. Annecessary part of any functional region is the flow of some phenomenon across the networks that unite the region, whether the flow is visible (cars delivering pizza using roads) or invisible (political and legal authority from the capital city) Perceptual regions differ from formal and functional regions in that they are defined by the informal sense of place that people ascribe to them. The boundaries of perceptual regions vary widely because people have a different sense of what defines and unites these ican “South,” the Middle East, and “Upstate” New York are if these regions exist, their exact boundaries depend upon the person who is defining them, Perceptual regions are also known as vernacular regions. Similar to perceptual maps are mental maps, or the maps that people create in their minds based on their own experience and knowledge. Mental maps evolve over time. The mental map of a child entering kindergarten for the first day of class might be just a door, a classroom, and a playground, After ‘a month, or a year, or several years in the building, the child will have a much fuller mental map. World Regions In the same way that historians divide history into eras and periods, geographers divide the world into regions and subregions. One type of large region is a continent. However, dividing the world into continents is not simple. Are Europe and Asia two continents or one? Where is the dividing line be North and South America? Is Greenland its own continent? Large Regions The following map shows the ten large regions used in AP® Human Geography. It includes the seven continents that are based on physical features. It also includes three cultural regions that are based on shared languages an + Central America is part of North America but influenced by Spain and Portugal than by Great + Sub-Saharan Africa is distinguished from the rest of Africa. + The Russian Federation spans eastern Europe and northern Asia, fain and France, S: A BIG PICTURE VIEW ARCH OCEIN ’ sini Sane ANTARCTICA > Subregions Geographers divide regions into smaller areas, or subregions. A subr with the rest of the larger region but is i South America, from Mexico to Chile. in other Latin American countries, most people in Brazil are Roman Cath primary language is Portuguese, which makes‘The map below shows the standard subregions used in AP® Human Geography. For example, Sub-Saharan Africa is subdivided into West, Centr East, and Southern Africa. Asia is divided into five subregions: Middle Ea Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia, WORLD REGIONS: A CLOSER LOOK ‘Smaller Regions By changing the scale and zooming in, subregions can be even further The further subdivisions can be based on elements of physical geography, such as climate and landform, or human geography, such as culture, politics, oF economics. Western Europe can be divided into Northwestern Europe and Southern Europe, each unified by more specific Since many kinds of regions exist, any one place is part of many regions or subregions at the same time, For example, Florida is part of + acclimate region based on its warm weather * a cultural region known as the South * an economic region known as the Sun Belt Geospatial Data Geospatial data includes all information that can be tied to a specific place. Besides locations of things, such as mountains or roads or bound: includes human acti nother? Obtaining Geospatial Data Much geospatial data is gathered in the field. This means that the data was observed and recorded ot fieldwork. Important sources of this type of data can come from a census of the population, from interviews, or even from informal observations made by geographers. Land surveys, photographs, and sketches are also important ‘ways in which this data is obtained. Technology is making the collection, System determine and recor a receiver's exact location Remote Determining land cover and use ‘Sensing Monitoring environmental changes images of the earth's surface | |. ossing spread of spate! phenomena + Monitoring the weather + Analysis of crime data ‘maps or geospatial data sets Quantitative and Qualitative Data Geospatial data can be quantitative or qualitative. Quant information that can be measured and recorded using numbers, Some examples are the distribution of people by income or age group. Qua data is often used with geographic information systems because it lends to analysis using formulas and computers. In contrast, qualitative data is not usually represented by numbers. This data is collected as interviews, document archives, descriptions, and visual observations. For examp intersection is dangerous is q alyze than quantitative data. People’s perceptions, opinions, and reasons for doing things are important parts of human geography. greatly to geographic understanding of places and the people who use them.GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES: THE LONDON SUBWAY MAP. KEY TERMS By 1931, the Underground had become so complex that an accurate but ‘conveniently small map was hard to read, Harry Beck, an Underground employee, realized that a simpler map would be more useful. Passengers did not need to know every twist and turn in the routes, so he created a regularly to add new subway have limited service, which are accessible to people using other improvements. Other transit systems have adopted a similar approdch: